Arteta braced for ‘roller-coaster’ ride as top four race heats up

Arsenal are in for a tense race to seal the fourth and final Champions League spot in the Premier League, a race with fine margins that could be decided only at the end of the season, manager Mikel Arteta said on Wednesday.

Five teams — Manchester United, West Ham United, Arsenal, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur — are separated by seven points and vying for fourth place.

Arsenal last played in the 2016-17 Champions League and though Arteta conceded he missed the competition, he remains focused on the job at hand.

“I think it’s going to be a bit of a roller-coaster,” Arteta told reporters ahead of Thursday’s home league match against Wolves.

“There are moments when a team opens a gap and then (others) catch up. You see the fixtures we all have to play and they’re extremely tricky.

“(The players) know what every game means for us. We know where we are — that race is going to be right till the end. There are a lot of clubs involved. You see different results than expected… Points at home will be crucial”, he concluded.

via Reuters